Re-wicking a tank atomiser

[MixMikeZ]

Thanks all, so here's the pics I took...

Size of thread I'm using for wicking.  This is the wicking from McMaster that was linked in this thread.


There it is


Threaded through, per Astreck's directions (btw, a zip-tie with the coating removed works great for this)


And the finished product


As a note, I've been vaping Titan Range 36mg American Red Tobacco.  Recently in an effort to cut the nic levels, I've been mixing 50/50 36mg and 18mg, and the 18mg seems to be a bit thicker than the 36mg.  Could the eliquid be the issue?  Thanks guys!

[MixMikeZ]

Just a note, the one in the pics is not cut as cleanly as most I've done, I was just doing one real quick last night to get pics of.

[Horsemen]

Just a FYI......If you use a pair of nail clippers to cut the wick you will get a nice clean cut every time.

As I'm sure you already noted, using scissors to cut the wick is a down right pain.

Also, I can't really tell from the picture but it appears that your wick might be too thick.  If the wick is compressed too tightly against the inner wall of the spike it will restrict the flow of liquid down the wick to the coil.

Also, it appears that you are not using any mesh material on the end of your wick.  If you do not use this then it is harder to keep the new wick in the spike.  Thus you will have to use thicker wicking to keep it in the spike. (If that makes sense)  If you use the mesh on the end of the wick you can then use a smaller piece of wick which will stay in easier and will not be so compressed against the inside wall.  

At least this was my experience when rewicking the tanks.

Oh, and one last thing.  I would pull the folded wick up through the spike and then snip the wick right where it folds and then pull it back down into position.  Again, removing the fold seemed to help the wicking also.

[Lettie22]

Also, it appears that you are not using any mesh material on the end of your wick.  If you do not use this then it is harder to keep the new wick in the spike.  Thus you will have to use thicker wicking to keep it in the spike. (If that makes sense)  If you use the mesh on the end of the wick you can then use a smaller piece of wick which will stay in easier and will not be so compressed against the inside wall.  

Tony, what do you use if you don't have the old mesh, i.e. it got stuck to the coil?   Or even if you have the mesh, how do you re-work it to the new wick?   That darn thing is so tiny!   I've tried using some very thin wire I have and it's worked in one and not the other!

[Horsemen]

We were using the mesh off an old standard 510 atty.  And I actually took apart an old dead tank atty as they have almost double the amount of mesh in them than the standard 510.

Believe it or not when you unroll the mesh off a 510 atty you will get about 8 inches of mesh.  Which is enough to do many many attys.  It's very hard to explain in words but I will try.

The mesh once unrolled is about 1/4 inch wide.  If you take a piece about 3/4 of an inch long, then fold it in half length wise to form a crease in the middle of the mesh.  Then lay you wick, which is about an inch long into the fold.  Then gently pick up the whole thing and start rolling the whole thing between your forefinger and thumbs just like you were rolling a ciagrette.  Then once you have done this then cut the whole thing right in half.  Thus giving you two wicks.  Believe me it's easier this way instead of trying to do one at a time.  Then you have two wicks with the mesh on each end.  You can trim the mesh on each end so you only have about 1/8 inch on each wick end.

Don't trim until it fits into the spike though.  You have to use considerable force and keep rolling and rolling the mesh until it will fit into the spike.  It's hard to explain just using words.  Video is better.  One night waaaaay back when this all started there were 4 or 5 of us one night in video chat rewicking tanks.  Astrecks did the thread a couple of days later I believe.  Unfortunately we figured out how to do the mesh on the wick a while after he did the thread.  But again it was done one night in video chat so we could all watch.

Hope some of this made sense

Oh and you said you used some wire.  Don't know what wire you used but it should have been nicron wire.  I got a roll of nicron wire from ebay. It was $6 for a 50 foot roll and free shipping. It works great for making coils for homemade attys but did not work to good with rewicking tanks.  The mesh works much better

[Lettie22]

thanks Tony for ALL the information -- very helpful even tho you said hard to explain -- I understand it all.   Might just buy a 510 atty to get the mesh!  And thanks for the info on the wire!

One more question -- what is the benefit of cutting the wick where it is double folded at the top of the spike?

[Horsemen]

Well I did a lot of reading etc on wicking in general back in the day.  With the old standard 510 atty there was a time when people were using a long piece of fluva folded over in the cart.  Some brilliant sole put a video on youtube showing how that little fold disrupted the flow of juice around that fold.  At least it made sense to me.  Thus I never used that method in the carts.

Moving along to the tank rewicking.  I was getting too much inconsistency with my wicks and could not figure out why.  So one night when I was frustrated with the wick I had made that thought came to me about the wicking and the fold.  So I cut the wick at the fold and fluffed it all up and pulled it back down.  And needless to say that fixed the problem.  I'm guessing there is just more surface area for wicking.

So if you don't want to use the wire mesh method try snipping the folded end after you pull it into the spike.  You can also use this method with the mesh but you have to make one wick at a time and leave about 1/8 of an inch of wick above the mesh.  Then simply snip it off with nail clippers.

[Lettie22]

You're the bomb Tony.   Not cutting the fold may be my problem.   Gonna try that later today and will report back.

Thanks once again!   

[Horsemen]

Okay just so we are clear and on the same page.  The other problem could be that the wick is just too thick.  If you have to pull really hard to get the wick into the spike than it is too thick.  Try removing say one strand of the wick and try again.  It's a big balancing act trying to get the wick the right thickness and still keep it from falling out of the spike.  That is why it is much easier using the mesh.  The mesh creates a rougher surface against the inside of the smooth spike helping keep the wick in place.

[MixMikeZ]

Horseman...thank you sooooo much for the help.  I started off with a 510 Titan Tank (well, actually I started vaping with a cheap 808 clone), so I don't have any CE2's to rip apart yet.  However, I just ordered a 5 pack, so I'll gut one when it arrives for at least the wick.  Is a CE2 what you get your mesh out of?

Also today I noticed that this 50/50 mix of 18mg and 36mg Titan American Red Tobacco doesn't flow as well in the one tank atty I have that is still functioning, and I can definitely tell that the 18mg is thicker than the 36mg.  I also ordered some PG and some Red Label flavor to see if I can create some juice with a lower nic level that is a bit thinner.

I'll post my findings and some pics of the process

[MixMikeZ]

So...

I received my CE2's in the mail today, along with my PG and flavor concentrate.  I just rewicked 2 tank attys, and there is definitely something different about the wicks in the CE2's versus the wicking I bought from McMaster. 

Neither of these rewicks were done with the mesh.  Also, kudos to whoever discovered using nail clippers to trim the wicks, perfect  

I first wicked one atty with a full wick from a CE2 (not removing any strands).  I knew it would be too thick, as it was a bit tough to pull through the spike, but I wanted to test and see what happened.  Indeed, after priming I get about 7-10 vapes before it starts to not wick very well, and a bit of a burnt taste starts to creep in with further vapes.  I tried several different wick thicknesses with the McMaster wicking, and this atty still outperformed ALL of the previous wicking attempts done with that wicking.  The wicking in the CE2's must be able to handle higher temps than the McMaster stuff, as the burnt taste is not nearly as pronounced. 

The next atty I did was again done with a CE2 wick, but this time I removed 3 strands.  Bingo!  I've been vaping from this atty for about an hour, and while it draws a bit harder and doesn't wick quite as quickly as a fresh atty from the factory, it wicks quite well with good vapor production and flavor, and no burnt taste yet. 

I think removing a 4th strand may yield the most optimal wick thickness.  I have one more atty to rewick, which I'll do over the weekend and post my results on.  And yeah, something is definitely different about the CE2 wicks than the McMaster wicking.  As a side note, I also don't mind these CE2 attys, although I do like the draw and mouthpiece size of the tanks better.  Also, rolling around town with a 510 mega battery with a CE2 hanging off of it isn't exactly stealth

[gutsy72]

 i dont believe this actually worked re-wicked with a zippo wick( without the wire! ) and yes no more burnt taste great article thanks a lot.

[StevieD]

Lol gutsy72, well done... but don't expect your new wick to last very long,  zippo wicks are fibre, not silica and so it will burn away.